‘Baku responsible for Feizi’s health’

Iran Foreign Ministry spokeswoman says Azeri officials are responsible for the deteriorating health of a detained Iranian citizen held on baseless charges of espionage in Baku.

“Azeri government officials are seriously responsible in this regard and they are required to take necessary measures to ensure his health and release,” Marzieh Afkham said on Sunday.

Bahram Feizi, an Iranian citizen, was incarcerated earlier this year by Azeri officials over the false allegation of intent to attack the Israeli embassy in Baku. He was reported to have been on hunger strike in protest to his detention.

Afkham said Azeri authorities finally allowed consular access to Feizi whose health, according to the Iranian Embassy representative, is “not satisfactory.”

Earlier this month, Iranian Ambassador to Baku Mohsen Pak-Ayeen said Iran Embassy was still waiting for an authorization to meet Feizi.

Pak-Ayeen further complained that, despite sending repeated formal notes to the Azeri Foreign Ministry, Baku had not facilitated consular access to the Iranian citizen in violation of international regulations.

Another Iranian citizen named Hassan Faraji was arrested and tortured last month in Baku for allegedly “passing in front of” the Israeli embassy and “acting suspiciously.”

Following his release, however, Faraji said he never appeared in front of the Israeli embassy and that the charges leveled against him by the Baku government were completely false.